On his fourth year and 5th SONA: Duterte is the biggest pasaway

A change in change narrative is underway. Duterte’s 5th SONA after four years in office, as expected, will never be a list of new pledges as promises made in 2016 is a grand fail. Instead, a narrative of ‘pasaway na Pinoy’, ‘pasaway na bisaya’, or ‘pasaway na terorista, unyonista, aktibista at human rights’ will be peddled for public consumption, in a blame game where this administration never admits a single failure of its own.

When in fact it is Duterte himself and his ilk in Congress who wasted four years in realizing the end to endo, increasing wages by abolishing the provincial rate system, stamping out corruption, freeing the country from foreign domination, ending the drug menace, and in making this country a primarily middle class nation in the immediate future. On the contrary it will, for convenience’s sake, make the pandemic a grand alibi in declaring a state of the nation that was never been good in the last four years and which, due to the persisting health and economic crises, will never become better for the rest of his term.

Workers will reject that kind of a narrative for it is Duterte’s failures in many aspects during the last four years, combined with its mishandling of the health crisis during the last four months, that make workers’ lives more miserable today. The virus came at a time workers job security remained unprotected with the veto of the anti-endo bill, while low wages, unemployment and underemployment leave workers with no savings to prepare for the rainy days.  I short, the massive loss of jobs and income today will only make living more unbearable for the millions of workers, formal and informal, local and overseas.

And so, who is the pasaway to blame for the sad state of the nation that we are in today? Certainly not the workers who were left behind during the last four years and who were forced into quarantine during the last four months.  Not the powerless masses who cannot afford the price of fighting the powerful.

Ang tunay na pasaway ay ang mga nasa kapangyarihan dahil sila ang mas sumusuway sa Konstitusyon at karapatan ng mamamayan. Silang inuna ang terror law sa halip na stimulus programs. Silang ang plano pagkatapos ng SONA ay magcha-cha habang nasa gitna tayo ng pandemya.

Sa madaling salita, si Duturte mismo ang tunay na pasaway.

For a radical alternative to Duterte

Richard Heydarian argues (Leni and the ‘third way,’ July 10, 2018) that Vice President Leni Robredo should remake herself into a “third way” alternative ala Tony Blair of UK and Bill Clinton of the US. With Robredo declaring her intent to lead the opposition, the question of an alternative to Duterte is truly worth discussing and debating.

The so-called third way epitomized by Blair and Clinton has been described by critics as “neoliberalism with a human face” or “austerity lite.” In which case, Robredo already is third way, as she is the current leader of the Liberal Party that in its six years in power under Noynoy Aquino presided over pro-globalization policies in the guise of “public-private partnerships” and was exemplified by its affirmation of contractualization in the Philippine Airlines outsourcing dispute.

Robredo embodies a continuation of EDSA and thus of the epic failures of the elite democracy established after the Marcos dictatorship. In contrast, Duterte has made a popular career out of lambasting the EDSA democracy from the right. We believe a viable alternative to Duterte should come out of a radical critique of EDSA’s trapo democracy from the left.

Heydarian posits that a radical alternative to the status quo has been eclipsed by the hegemonic discourse of neoliberalism. Thus his espousal of Blairism and Clintonism. But it can be argued that Blair and Clinton’s swing to the right merely paved the way for a further shift and thus the rise of extremism of the UKIP and Trump. Blair and Clinton’s abandonment of the historic and traditional working class base of the Labour Party and the Democratic Party made them prey to demagoguery of right populists.

Heydarian likewise insists that socialism has been made passé by the rise of postmodernism. However, this is belied by the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders. In opposition to Blair and Clinton, Corbyn and Sanders have openly identified themselves as socialists and have championed radical platforms of reversing globalization. Corbyn has wrestled control of the Labour Party from third way acolytes and is poised to be the next Prime Minister if new elections were held. Sanders of course lost the primaries to Hillary Clinton through the undemocratic maneuverings of the Democratic Party machine but he would have beaten Trump in the election according to surveys.

Despite predictions of the end of history and the death of grand narratives, socialism is alive and kicking. The defeat of working class struggles heralded the birth of neoliberalism but discontent over the greed and barbarism of globalization is engendering renewed resistance. Majority of millennials in the US prefer socialism over capitalism. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, just trounced in the primaries a high-ranking Democratic Party leader and is primed to become the youngest congresswoman in the next US elections.

In many countries, radical candidates not third way politicians are in ascendancy as the rivals to authoritarian leaders. Andrés Manuel López Obrador just won Mexico’s election on a progressive platform of change. In Europe, third way social democratic parties have collapsed and it is new radical left parties which are battling extreme right wing groups for political hegemony.

In the Philippines, more than 30 years of the EDSA regimes have exhausted the majority who remain mired in poverty and hopelessness, and even the middle and upper classes who are disillusioned at corruption and underdevelopment. Duterte has harvested the discontent at EDSA democracy and is trying to channel it into support for dictatorship. But after two years of broken promises, Duterte’s satisfaction ratings are down from excellent to good, especially among the urban masses who are reeling from endo and inflation. They are the constituency for a radical alternative to Duterte and the rotten system of the EDSA regimes.

In solidarity with HKCTU and the Hong Kong People

(Reuters photo)

We, in the Partido Manggagawa (Labor Party Philippines) extend our solidarity to our brothers and sisters in the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), the students and the Hong Kong people in the struggle for democracy and greater equality. 

The world is witnessing yet another “occupy” and “spring” phenomenon, this time right here in   neighboring Hong Kong.  Yet while we are inspired seeing people – students, teachers, workers, and elderly in collective action against threats to democracy, we are likewise indignant that this action is met by official violence perpetrated by the State.

We condemn the use of violence against legitimate protests.  Democracy, we assert, is an indivisible body of rights that must be enjoyed by the sovereign people.  The right to chose and to freely express ourselves are but a few of the basic principles of democracy.  And even if these rights cannot be proclaimed as absolute vis-a-vis the need for certain degree of state regulation, suppressing these rights more often than not creates an absolutely dangerous predicate to destroying the very fundamental of democracy which is people’s sovereignty.  Repression must therefore be stopped at this very first level.

Hence, we appeal to both the HK and Beijing government to stop the use of violence against its own people.  The people’s democratic government which was proclaimed in October 1, 1949, can only be more and never less democratic.  For this reason, arrest and detention as well as the use of teargas in dispersing a massive but peaceful assembly of mostly young people is patently undemocratic.

We call on the Hong Kong working class to join the democracy protests to break the impasse for the students cannot win the struggle on their own. But the Hong Kong workers must put the imprint of their class demands on the movement and march under their own banner of social justice and emancipation

We are also made aware that aside from the demand of ensuring promised democracy, the people were raising the issue of gaping inequality between the business elite and the working class in Hong Kong.  We acknowledge this as a worldwide phenomenon under this capitalist world thus we easily identify with the justness of bringing this call.

Furthermore, Hong Kong is also host to tens of thousands of Filipinos and other Asian workers.  Thus it is safe to assume that for many years they already have shared the values of the Hong Kong people in upholding democracy.  We likewise appeal to the Chinese government to treat migrant fairly in the face of this political uncertainty.

In solidarity,

The Executive Committee

Partido Manggagawa – Labor Party Philippines

30 September 2014

Workers not impressed by WEF’s wonderful stories

PRESS RELEASE

23 May 2014

What do unemployed, underpaid, and oppressed workers who dominate the labor market in Asia expect when business elites and their respective governments meet in an exclusive talk shop such as the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Manila? 

 

For the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), Asia’s precariats will gain nothing from this process. 

 

“WEF is not about people. It’s all about corporations, their investments, and new market opportunities,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo, asserting further that even if President Aquino gives praises on the role of ordinary Filipinos played in the country’s economic turnaround, the WEF’s business agenda will never change.

 

Magtubo said corporations did grow in Asia so as the number of billionaires in the region. Yet these growths remain jobless and highly unequal.

 

The Philippines, he added, “is not a fantastic story of economic miracle but an old testament to this kind of regional growth pattern where a handful of business elites control more than half the economy.”

 

Based on PM’s own study, the combined wealth (estimated at US$45.3-B) for the Philippines’ richest 10 is equal to the annual income of 21 million minimum wage earners. 

 

“The Philippine government cannot claim ‘inclusive growth’ until this ratio of inequality is effectively reversed,” stressed Magtubo.

 

Magtubo said further that if ever there will be mention of “people” at WEF’s grandiose workshops it won’t go beyond the context of market – open markets for corporate products and cut-price and flexible labor markets for their efficient operations.

 

“Thus the WEF cannot brag about wonders and miracles when Asia remains the biggest home to the world’s poorest people epitomized by workers in vulnerable employment,” lamented Magtubo.

 

The Asian region has the highest rate ofinformalization in the world.  As defined, informal workers are the own-account (self-employed) and unpaid family workers combined.  They also include workers in irregular (contractuals) or seasonal employment. 

 

Recently they have been labelled as precariats or workers living in precarious working conditions. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated the Asia-wide “vulnerable employment” in 2007 at 1.1 billion people or 62.2 percent of all workers in the region.  Informalization in the Philippines is estimated to be between 41 to 77 percent.

 

Meanwhile PM anticipates a big push for charter change after the WEF in Manila as foreign chamber of commerce, specifically that of the US and EU, have long been lobbying for the removal of economic restrictions imposed by our Constitution on foreign ownership. 

 

“A grand conspiracy for cha-cha, we believe, is underway with the President’s allies in Congress getting a silent imprimatur from Malacanang to proceed with their sinister move to pass the cha-cha resolution while everybody is distracted with the Napolists,” concluded Magtubo.

Advisory: Launch of campaign for employment and people’s participation in Yolanda rehab

MEDIA ADVISORY

December 30, 2013

Contact: Judy Torres @ 09262389963; 09482495848

Launch of campaign for employment and people’s participation in Yolanda rehab

WHAT: Mass and motorcade to highlight launch of Yolanda rehab campaign  

WHEN: Today, December 30 (Monday), 12 noon

WHERE: Sto. Nino Church then motorcade around Tacloban City and finally a program at the church social hall

DETAILS: The campaign will demand that employment, social protection and people’s participation be bedrocks of the Yolanda rehabilitation and reconstruction plan in order to address not just the immediate but also the long term needs of Pepe and Pilar.
                The campaign is to be launched by tricycle and trisikad drivers and operators in Tacloban, Hilongos and Baybay, in coordination with the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

 The groups will attend a noon mass at the Sto. Nino Church after which they will hold a motorcade around Tacloban City with posters bearing the call, “Make jobs a priority in Yolanda rehab”, wrapped around their trikes.  The motorcade will end at the church for a gathering and small salu-salo at the social hall where family members and other Yolanda survivors will hear the groups’ manifesto.

Labor Yearender: PAL-PALEA settlement to impact on labor relations

Press Statement

December 27, 2013

Undoubtedly the biggest labor story for the year was the settlement of the long-running dispute between Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA). It hardly made it to the news though as the historic deal ran smack of biggest story of the year—supertyphoon Yolanda. At the height of Yolanda and with howling winds buffeting their picketline, PALEA members voted to ratify the agreement.

The settlement provides for the rehiring as regular workers of some 600 PALEA members who were retrenched in 2011 but refused to accept the outsourcing scheme. The process of PALEA members applying for re-employment has started and PAL is mandated to give them priority for hiring in regular positions. The agreement also grants an improved separation package of 200% per year of service and P150,000 in gratuity pay.

The settlement of the labor dispute over outsourcing will have repercussions far beyond the PAL and are highly significant for the challenge presented by precarious work to workers, employers and the state.

The victorious resistance of PALEA against contractualization and the vigorous campaign it has engendered puts into question the popular view that precarious work is a global trend that cannot be rolled back. In fact just weeks after the PAL-PALEA agreement was signed, 500 contractual mining workers in Cebu won regularization after mass actions by the union PAMCC. The PAMCC union in the Toledo City-based Carmen Copper Corp., one of the biggest mines in the country, was active in the PALEA solidarity campaign in Cebu and was directly inspired by the outcome of the PAL dispute.

Indeed well before the settlement was signed and just two months after the implementation of the outsourcing plan, the dispute already changed the landscape of industrial relations. In November 2011, the Department of Labor and Employment issued DO 18-A to spell out new regulations over contracting and subcontracting arrangements arguably in the face of an outcry from organized labor about the retrenchment of 2,400 workers at PAL.

Arguably resistance saved PALEA’s regular jobs. If they had accepted rather than fought outsourcing then they would have become contractual workers trapped in an endless cycle of 6-month endo jobs. Or worse they would have become unemployed in a jobless growth economy. Instead some 600 PALEA members will be returning to their regular jobs in the coming weeks.

Labor groups, both in the country and abroad, have hailed PALEA’s victory as a victory for all workers. Meanwhile PALEA has expressed its gratitude for the fervent solidarity of workers, community and Church groups which launched protests, lobbying and a boycott campaign. While difficult to assess, the boycott contributed to PAL’s P2.19 billion in losses due to reduced passenger revenues just for the first half of its latest fiscal year.

PALEA’s campaign combined old school tactics of struggle and modern means of organizing solidarity. PALEA’s fight struck a sympathetic chord in the international labor movement and thus two global days of actions involved protests in airports and embassies across four continents. PALEA members used Facebook to maintain contact, exchange ideas, call for action and solicit support. PALEA was a trending topic on Twitter in the immediate aftermath of the airport protest as allies and critics debated in cyberspace, and again during the impeachment trial of the Supreme Court Chief Justice when it was exposed that he received “platinum cards” as gift from PAL.

The coming year will see how far the outcome of PAL-PALEA labor dispute can reverberate outside industrial relations at the flag carrier.

MRT/LRT rate hike unfair and unjust – labor group

PRESS RELEASE

12 December 2013

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) renewed its call for the government to forego its plan to raise the tariff rates in the MRT and LRT systems by additional P10 during a public consultations held today.

PM spokesperson Wilson Fortaleza, said that while workers are very much interested in making their daily train travel safer and more comfortable through improved services, removing the state subsidy to millions of commuters through a fare hike further deepens the inequality and poverty in this country, notwithstanding the failure of the government to bare the real score justifying the increase.

He likewise complained that the public hearing today can never be intelligent and participatory since none of the documents that they were asking from DOTC since August this year were provided before its conduct.

Nevertheless, PM participated in the hearing to make its opposition official while several of its members holding “Palag sa P10 dagdag!” placards held a picket outside the LRT 2 depo in Pasig City where the consultation is being held.

In the consultation, PM had raised the following grounds to back their opposition to the planned P10 fare hike:

1.       The real amount of subsidy to MRT-LRT consumers (P45 for MRT and 25 for LRT) as presented by President Aquino during his State of the Nation Address this year was erroneous as he compared the cost of subsidy to the rates of air-conditioned buses in Edsa. The group’s own estimate puts the figure to just P13 per passenger ride.

2.     It is highly unfair and unequal to remove the annual P6-B subsidy to some 400 million train riders while providing the few VIP’s in government with at least P8-B travel subsidy, including the P1-M per day travel subsidy to the President and P180,000 to the DOTC secretary. PM asserts that subsidy is a necessary social tool amid inequality and poverty in the country.

3.     Ordinary workers will be mostly affected by the fare hike.  Based on the 2007 Mega Manila Public Transport Study, 67.7% MRT and LRT users earn less the P10,000 per month or less than the mandated minimum wage while another 15%, most probably students, are ‘without income’ in their economic profile.

4.   Costs borne out of onerous contracts, corporate fraud, or flawed executive decisions should not be passed on to consumers. The government should rather conduct an honest-to-goodness inquiry into allegations that the private consortium MRTC and other parties have defrauded the government and the people under the onerous BLT contract.  If such is proven, PM demands that the BLT contract rescinded at no further cost to the government.  Any liabilities accrued from such onerous or fraudulent transactions must be shared by the contracting parties and not passed on to commuters.

5.  The fare hike is a prelude to privatization.  PM maintains its position that vital public utilities such as the MRT/LRT system remain in the public sphere.

The group argued that privatization is neither the tuwid na daan, nor the way towards inclusive growth. 

“The country has had enough of devastating privatization experience in vital industries such as power and water.  With the latest hike in Meralco rates of P4.15/kwh, we can now pride ourselves as a third world country with power rates that of the first world,” concluded Fortaleza.

Advisory: Workers to picket LRT/MRT fare hike hearing

WHAT: Picket protest vs. proposed LRT/MRT fare hike

WHEN: Today, December 12, 1:30 pm

WHERE: LRT 2 Santolan, Pasig station/depot

DETAILS: Members of the Partido ng Manggagawa will have a picket-protest while their representatives will present a critique of the proposed LRT/MRT fare hike. The LRT/MRT fare hike hearing is schedule tomorrow at 2:00 pm. In its presentation, PM will assert that the fare hike is unjust and unnecessary.

P4.15/kWh power hike is bonus for doing nothing – labor group

PRESS RELEASE

09 December 2013

Just for doing nothing, Meralco and several generation companies (Gencos) were rewarded a whooping bonus of P4.15/kWh, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement.

 

According to PM, the impending increase, the highest in the country’s history and in the world, could have been avoided had Meralco and gencos planned for replacement power to address the expected load gap from Malampaya’s scheduled regular maintenance.

 

“But in a privatized industry regime under EPIRA, power utilities earn handsome profit just by doing nothing and even during times of calamities. Power utilities like Meralco control the whole industry from generation to transmission to distribution and can thus exercise monopoly pricing limited only by what the market can absorb, meaning what the consumers are willing to pay in exorbitant electricity costs,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

 

About 2,700 MW of power from Sta. Rita, San Lorenzo, and Ilijan plants were lost due to the shutdown of Malampaya. Luzon needs at least 6,000 MW to meet its peak load demand.

 

“Imagine a deficit of 2,700 megawatt, an anticipated crisis, yet Meralco and Gencos did nothing but wait for the billing period and impose their new and adjusted rates,” lamented Fortaleza.

 

The group, which joined the Freedom from Debt Coalition and Nagkaisa in a picket held at the ERC this morning, added that the crisis is made worse when the government, particularly the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), “stood idle in the face of the surging tsunami of price hikes in the electricity market.”  The government should have disallowed other power plants to shutdown simultaneously with Malampaya to ensure stability of supply in the Luzon grid.

 

Fortaleza explained that replacement power is a global template for every power supply contract since outages, both regular and forced, is routine in the power system. In many PSA’s the obligation to find replacement power or plan for alternative set up belongs to Gencos since they have contracts to comply in ensuring reliable supply of power to their customers. 

 

Unfortunately, said Fortaleza, most of ERC-approved PSAs assigned replacement power to Meralco and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where spot prices which as of yesterday range from P17/kWh to P52/kWh.

 

Fortaleza added that Gencos have options to avoid the instability and he cited the case of Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo.  Based on First Gen’s submission to the Philippine Stocks Exchange (PSE) on March 20, 2012, it explained that,“Although the Sta. Rita plant is intended to operate on natural gas, if delivery of natural gas is delayed or interrupted for any reason, the plant has the ability to run on liquid fuel for as long as necessary without adverse impact to its operation or revenues.” The same business model goes with San Lorenzo.

 

Now did Gencos, Meralco, and the government considered this option?

 

“No, they just did nothing,” concluded Fortaleza.

Highest power rate hike not acceptable, unjust

Press Release

December 7, 2013

The Partido ng Manggagawa, a member of labor coalition Nagkaisa, rejects the impending power rate hike of P4.15/kwh in the Meralco area based on the following grounds:

1.    This is unconscionable, an act of economic terror amid calamities, deepening inequality and poverty in the country.

2.    This is unjust.  When imposed, the P4.15 rate adjustment will be the highest in Philippine history.  This will also be the highest residential rate in the world.

3.    This is unfair.  Workers in NCR were only granted P10 per day or P260 per month under Wage Order No. 18.  The P4.15/kwh increase in Meralco rate is additional P830 burden for households consuming 200 kwh per month.

4.    The rate hike, on the contrary, cannot be imposed arbitrarily by Meralco as explained earlier by Malacanang.  Meralco has to secure the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

5.    The steep hike could have been prevented.  The Malampaya shutdown is not due to force majeure.  It is part of regular biannual maintenance therefore expected and has already been factored in in Meralco’s power supply agreements (PSA) with its suppliers, particularly First Gas’ Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo and Kepco Ilijan.  The PSA should have included provisions on “replacement power”.

Based on First Gen’s submission to the Philippine Stocks Exchange (PSE) on March 20, 2012, it was explained that,“Although the Sta. Rita plant is intended to operate on natural gas, if delivery of natural gas is delayed or interrupted for any reason, the plant has the ability to run on liquid fuel for as long as necessary without adverse impact to its operation or revenues.” The same business model goes with San Lorenzo.

6.    This is market failure.   Collusion among generation companies, which has been the name of the game under EPIRA, is most possible after the Malampaya shutdown to drive prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) up.

7.    This is failure in governance.  The government, particularly the Department of Energy, should not have allowed this artificial shortage as a result of simultaneous shutdowns of power plants following the shutdown of Malampaya. 

Inihahalintulad namin ang delubyong ito bilang panibagong kalamidad dala ng kasakiman ng mga kumpanya ng kuryente na walang pinipiling panahon para gawin ang kanilang pandaramobong, at sa gubyerno na sa lahat ng panahon ay natutulog sa pansitan.

Predatory MERALCO price hike slammed by NAGKAISA

Press Release

December 6, 2013

Nagkaisa

Meralco already insured against maintenance shutdowns, Power Supply Agreements cover Meralco risk with power providers

The NAGKAISA labor coalition denounced the December P3.50 per kWh rate increase as an immoral imposition and an unconscionable predatory move in the face of our massive national suffering and despair. Instead of moderating its greed, MERALCO and the generating companies First Gas (Sta. Rita), South Premier Power Corporation (Ilijan) and Therma Mobile, Inc. (San Lorenzo) – which are its cohorts – chose to further impoverish hardworking Filipinos and complicate the already difficult road to national recovery.

MERALCO residential rates currently pegged at Php12.46 per kWh will now be hiked to Php15.96 per kWh, representing a 28% increase. The new rate is equivalent to US$ 37 cents per kWh. That is the highest residential rate, bar none, in the WORLD. Its consequences for families coping with the triple whammy of NAPOLES-scale corruption, spiralling oil and LPG prices, and natural calamities are immense.

For industry, where power rates already constitute 45% to 55% of operational costs, particularly for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and BPOs, the rate increase will greatly affect their business viability. For the national economy, it compromises our regional competitiveness in the ASEAN and will be a disincentive to locators remaining and to the entry of foreign direct investments.

NAGKAISA pointed out that before a new tariff formula called Performance-Based Rate-making (PBR) was implemented by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), MERALCO only made an annual net profit ranging from Php3 to Php6 billion. Under PBR in 2012, MERALCO declared a net income of Php16.25 billion. For 2013 MERALCO expects a consolidated net income of Php17 billion. NAGKAISA decried this overly-generous rate of return allowed by ERC which allowed MERALCO to earn in just one year what it used to take them 3 years to earn.

NAGKAISA also countered the MERALCO assertion that the maintenance work on Malampaya and resorting to the more expensive sources of WESM would result in a power rate increase of anywhere from Php2 per kWh to Php3.50 per kWh. NAGKAISA argues the following:

·       The scheduled maintenance of Malampaya and other plants should or was already imputed in the MERALCO rate. If MERALCO management did not prudently build this into their rate then the owners and management of MERALCO should bear the loss, not the consumers. The maintenance was scheduled way ahead of time and the cost consequences should already have been placed in the power supply agreements which MERALCO entered into.

·       If there is a forced outage, MERALCO and the power producers First Gas (Santa Rita), Therma Mobile (San Lorenzo) and SPPC (Ilijan) from which MERALCO buys its power are insured against possible spikes in costs. Why is MERALCO passing the burden to consumers when there is insurance for forced outages. Again, if MERALCO did not enter into any form of insurance or contract stipulation as to who will pay for the alternative supply in case of an outage (the alternative supply in this case is WESM), then MERALCO again has acted imprudently and should bear the cost of its imprudence.

·       MALAMPAYA is providing only a certain percentage of the power needs of MERALCO. Why are the entire costs of the downtime of Malampaya being borne by MERALCO consumers? How did it amount to a possible P3.50 per kWh increase?

·       Why has the ERC as regulator not stepped-in to validate the current claims of MERALCO when there are Commission on Audit findings of overcollection in 2004 and 2007 in the generation charges of MERALCO? Does ERC take the manifestations of MERALCO and the generation players as gospel truth?

·       Why has the DOE – or the Palace for that matter – not addressed the possibility of resorting to the MALAMPAYA FUND to reduce rates and to cushion the impact if indeed there is a problem not anticipated in the power supply contracts entered into between MERALCO and the generators?

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT CONSUMERS ARE BEING MADE TO ADVANCE WHAT THE MERALCO WILL BE COLLECTING FROM ITS INSURERS EVENTUALLY. When MERALCO entered into its supply contracts, it inputted and covered against all projected events and the cost consequences. These costs were built into the original power supply agreement and are therefore built into the rate. Further, MERALCO insured against all risks. MERALCO IS TRYING TO COLLECT FROM ITS CUSTOMERS BECAUSE IT THINKS IT CAN FOOL THEM. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

NAGKAISA has warned that the Wholesale Electricity Supply Market (WESM) does not and cannot work where you have insufficient supply. Given inadequate power supply, there will be no competition to drive down rates because it will be a sellers market. NAGKAISA, as a disinterested party, had already warned the government of this in its meetings with the economic cluster of the Cabinet in April and May 2013. NAGKAISA notes that notwithstanding the notable failure of WESM to bring down electricity prices in Luzon and Visayas, the DOE is currently piloting it in Mindanao where power supply is also inadequate.

NAGKAISA warns that the general public are beginning to realize that the Palace is a defender of MERALCO by its statements that there is “regularity” to the rate increase because it was “in accordance with the law.” NAGKAISA reminds the Palace that it is not for the NAGKAISA or the Palace nor the DOE to determine regularity. That is a function that clearly lies with the ERC. It is the ERC which must determine the course of action to be taken: to set the increase aside or to cushion its impact through rate increases staggered over a longer period of time.

NAGKAISA also reminds the Palace that perhaps something is deadly wrong with the EPIRA Law and that it is time to take a second hard look on how to ensure affordable power and supply that is reliable. We reiterate our call for the creation of a Presidential Task Force to bring down power rates. The Palace should talk to disinterested parties – not the power cartel.

Finally, NAGKAISA reminds the Palace that if in its fight against corruption, it brought down an Ombudsman and a Chief Justice, it can certainly do something about a certain ERC Chairperson named Ducut. Consumer and labor representation in the ERC is long overdue.

Ilustrado class failed this nation – labor group

PRESS RELEASE

30 November 2013

 

The ilustrado class failed this nation, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) declared on the 150^th birth anniversary of the plebeian hero, Andres Bonifacio. 

The group, which joined the broader labor coalition Nagkaisa! in a march to Mendiola today, compared the country’s present rulers -- the corrupt, traditional politicians (trapos)  -- to that of the ilustrados and “lahi ni Legazpi” described then by Bonifacio in his “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog”, as a race we allowed to live “most bountifully and lavishly” while we ourselves suffered deprivation and hunger.

PM Chair Renato Magtubo made this parallelism in the face of unaddressed problems of poverty and inequality in the country under the more than a century of uninterrupted rule of elite regimes. “Today, an elite club of 50 richest Pinoys controls more than half of our nation’s wealth, their combined wealth equivalent to a year’s income of 31 million minimum wage earners. While the elite live bountifully and lavishly, majority of our people remain jobless, homeless and hungry,” stated Magtubo.

Bonifacio day rallies were also staged by PM in Cebu City where workers marched around downtown Colon and in Bacolod where factory and agricultural workers held a program at the city plaza.

The labor leader added that the gaping inequality and deepening poverty in the country is made worse by the devastating impacts of climate crisis and the government’s inability to effectively respond to them as manifested in the case of Yolanda.

Magtubo pointed out further that even the “haring bayan” or “sovereign people” concept which was the idea of democratic rule by Bonifacio during that time, remains a dream as the country continues to be ruled by ilustrados which metamorphosed into what is called today as “trapos.”

“These trapos do not have the vision of Bonifacio’s ‘kasaganaan and kaginhawahan’ (abundance and prosperity) as their concerns revolve around selfish greed,” said Magtubo, pointing to the high level corruption scandals involving high officials of the land. 

The labor group averred that the situation could have been different today had Bonifacio and the Katipunan movement gained complete freedom from colonial powers and democratic institutions were formed and truly ruled by the sovereign people.

“Unfortunately the old colonialism was only supplanted by modern globalization in which processes are captured by imperialist nations.  And the country’s rulers just changed clothes,” explained Magtubo.

The struggle, he said, continues with workers willing to carry on with the tasks of realizing Katipunan’s vision of kalayaan, kasaganaan, at kaginhawahan.

Labor urges gov’t to make employment, building new communities a priority in post-Yolanda rehab

PRESS RELEASE

28 November 2013

Tacloban City and the rest of typhoon-ravaged places in Regions 8, 7 and 6 must be rehabilitated and rebuilt based on a framework of building the people’s capacity to survive calamities and live a secure and dignified life thereafter, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement.

“A new model of community must be built out of the ruins of Yolanda. Employment must be a top priority since it is regular income that gives people a sense of long-term security and a life of dignity,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza. 

Fortaleza pointed out that since the private sector where the government completely relies on job generation is not capable, prior to and after Yolanda, of providing employment to the poor people of these particular regions, the rehabilitation plan must therefore include a medium to long-term public employment program where the State plays a key role. 

“Such program may include social service activities such as healthcare, climate-resilient mass housing projects, education and skills training, as well as building new, smart and renewable power and transport systems that would create green jobs, among others,” added Fortaleza. 

The labor group likewise stressed that if “Yolanda” is the “new normal” vis-à-vis climate change, then the government must not stay on a normal mode of asking, repacking, and delivering relief goods from northern countries in the face of 20 Yolandas in every semester of the whole year.

“There must be a shift – from relief operations to building prepared and secured communities,” said Fortaleza.

He added that northern countries whose high carbon emissions produce many Yolandas in the Pacific must be made to pay for a climate debt they owe to poor nations such as the Philippines – the compensation coming from them must be utilized for building new kind of communities.  

However, the labor group finds it very unfortunate that this country had been, up to this moment, is under the rule of the Ilustrado class whose vision of the country cannot go beyond the insular demand of their pockets. 

“It’s very clear that government’s failure in Yolanda, both national and local, is the failure of trapo politics,” said Fortaleza

On Saturday, November 30 and the 150^th birth anniversary of working class hero Andres Bonifacio, Partido ng Manggagawa will join the NAGKAISA! coalition march to Mendiola to raise the many working class issues that past and present governments failed to address, including climate crisis.

Group slams P10 wage hike as a “cruel Napoles joke”

Press Release

September 7, 2013

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed the P10 wage hike in the National Capital Region (NCR) as a “cruel Napoles joke” inflicted on the workers. “Janet Napoles steals P10 billion from the people’s money and the government offers P10 in coins to workers as a consolation. While the people’s attention is focused on the billion peso pork barrel scam, the wage board thinks it can quietly dupe workers with a measly pay increase,” insisted Wilson Fortaleza, PM’s spokesperson.

Meanwhile PM called on the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) which had filed a P83 across-the-board wage petition to coordinate with other labor groups to protest the NCR wage board’s decision and launch a joint campaign for a living wage. “The TUCP’s rejection of the wage board’s decision is a good initial move. The next step should be to complement the TUCP’s appeal to the wage board with a call on workers to hold mass actions. If the middle class finds it necessary to call a Million People March for the abolition of the pork barrel, it is imperative on the working class to launch a mass movement to end the cheap labor policy,” Fortaleza argued.

He added that the P10 wage hike is a “dagdag-bawi scam.” “Government decides to give workers a P10 hike in wages but it will take it back with the proposed P10 increase in fares for the MRT and LRT. Further, prices of basic goods like rice have inflated so that in the end, workers are worse off than before,” Fortaleza explained.

“PM’s own study reveals that the cost of living in the NCR is already P1,200 as of April this year for a family of six and yet the new minimum wage adds up to only P466, which will not even buy half of the basket of goods and services,” Fortaleza said.

He continued that “This is the ugly reality of inequality in our country. The Philippines is the fastest growing economy in Asia yet only a few, the capitalist class, is benefiting from the increased wealth created by the working people. The assets of the ten richest Filipinos amount to some US$45 billion, which is equivalent to the yearly wages of 20 million minimum wage earners.”

PM contends that the wage boards have outlived their usefulness and should be replaced by a Wage Commission. Fortaleza stated that “The mandate of the National Wage Commission will be to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. This is different from the wage boards which are bogged down by convoluted and contradictory 10-point criteria in fixing wages. The Wage Commission should raise the minimum wage to the level of the living wage by a mix of mechanisms such as direct pay increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers.”

Solidarity Message to the New Anti Capitalist Party of France

Greetings of working class solidarity!

We salute the New Anti Capitalist Party in its second congress. The NPA congress will be held amidst the fierce winds of change blowing in North Africa that hopefully will cross the Mediterranean and reach the shores of France.

The working class of France is in a crucial conjuncture. The offensive of the capitalist class that became even more severe and brutal as the global crisis unfolded a few years ago is nonetheless engendering an escalation in the resistance of the workers and the peoples of the world.

The class conscious workers in Philippines have been following with interest the huge mobilizations among the French proletariat against the Sarkozy government’s plan to reform the pension system and shift the burden of its costs on the backs of the workers. Such historic and gigantic movements inspire the workers of the whole world.

France is obviously a crucial link the chain of imperialist countries and any breakthrough in the class struggles in your country will have momentous significance for the international working class movement and the socialist struggle in the advanced countries. We will be paying attention to critical assessments of the fight against pension reform and the struggle against the capitalist offensive in France.

The tasks of the workers of France grow heavier as the fate of the Arab revolution hangs in the balance. As former colonizer of many of the Arab countries, the imperialist interference and intervention of the French ruling class can play a major role in subverting the uprisings in North Africa and the protests in the Middle East.

With the solidarity of the international proletariat, a resurgent working class movement in the Arab countries should swing the balance of forces for the people’s uprisings.

So even as the workers of the world look at France for the lessons of its class struggle, we are also focused on the popular uprisings and stirrings in North Africa and the Middle East. With nearly a million Filipino migrant workers in the Middle East sending some USD 3 billion in remittances to our country, the events in the Middle East will have great repercussions not just on the Philippine economy but in the consciousness of our people.

In a world of contradictions and revolutions, the role of international solidarity becomes even more crucial. We look forward to increasing cooperation between the workers of our countries.

Amidst concerns of election failure: PM calls on voters to be vigilant, say people power a must option

Press Release
May 4, 2010
In reaction to the recall of some 7,000 faulty memory cards and another 3,000 PCOS machines in the NCR, the labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on voters to be vigilant amidst concerns of an election failure. “The recall of memory cards and PCOS machines days before May 10 is just the latest in a series of twists that may lead to a failure of elections,” declared PM chair Renato Magtubo.

PM added its voice to the growing call for people power in the event of a failed election and in the context of a power vacuum. “A failed election would be tantamount to a failure of the whole system and under such a scenario, a people power is a must option to be able to reboot the system rather than let it hang in favor of the sitting elite faction of the ruling class,” Magtubo insisted.

He added that “We have first hand reports of PCOS machines failing tests in Romblon. This is in addition to media reports of such failures in the NCR, Mindoro and Batangas.”

Magtubo revealed that the PM is mobilizing its leaders and members to be pollwatchers in populous depressed communities in which the group has chapters. “These workers’ Ballot Brigades will be present in the precincts of Metro Manila and its vicinities Calabarzon and Bulacan, and in other cities such as Metro Cebu, Metro Bacolod and Metro Davao,” he clarified.

Magtubo said the organized and even the unorganized sections of the working class will take the streets for a gallant stand against a junta type hold over government which is the most likely outcome of failed elections.

“That is because failed institutions under the Arroyo regime cannot redeem the system from such a failure, thus, a people power is the only option that can unmake or dispose of the current rotten system, or create new institutions to save this dying nation,” concludes Magtubo.

Message of Solidarity with the Pinoy Teachers of Louisiana

The Partido ng Manggagawa salutes the brave Filipino migrant teachers in Louisiana. In the name of the working class in the Philippines, we support you in your fight for justice against the illegal and oppressive policies of the recruiter Lulu Navarro. We pledge to help your cause and struggle in any way we can.

You have broken the stereotype of Filipino teachers as meek and submissive slaves who will endure inhuman treatment with hardly a peep. Instead you have stood for what you believe is right despite all the odds and against threats of persecution by Navarro and her minions.

You have proven once again that in unity there is strength and in action lies the possibility of victory. The support you have garnered from the Filipino-American community, the American Federation of Teachers and even the coverage that has been given your issue by the US mass media is testimony to you determination in struggle over the course of almost a year.

With the light at the end of the tunnel ever clearer now as far as achieving your goals of seeking justice, we encourage you to broaden the scope of your fight and raise it to the next level. We ask that add to your agenda the reform of overseas employment policy in order to stop the abuse of Filipino migrant workers. If professionals like teachers can become slave labor in a country like the US, no wonder OFW’s by the thousands suffer from abuse, discrimination and indignity across the globe.

Among the most important of these reforms would be to end the deregulation of the labor export industry and for Congress to amend the Migrant Workers Act in this regard. Illegal recruitment and OFW abuse thrives since government insists on promoting overseas employment while allowing private recruitment agencies to do the actual placement of workers.

It is also necessary that Philippine embassies and consulates make the protection of migrant workers its principal work. The government must forge labor agreements with receiving countries that will guarantee enforcement of labor standards, social protections and workers rights.

You are in the best position to advocate such reforms. In order for such a bigger fight to succeed, you must forge links with other Filipino migrant workers, expand further your alliances with the American labor movement and the Filipino-American community, even as you build ties with the working class movement in the Philippines.